Politician from Odisha, India

Jual Oram (born 22 March 1961) is a member of the 17th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Sundargarh cons*uency of Odisha. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He was also a member of the 12th, 13th, 14th Lok Sabha and 16th Lok Sabha. He was chosen as one of the Cabinet Ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a former Cabinet Minister in the Government of India. He is now the Vice-President of the Bharatiya Janata Party and is one of the party's senior most leaders from the State of Odisha, being one of two founding Legislative *embly Members from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state of Odisha. He has served as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state of Odisha for over four years. He served as leader of opposition party from BJP side in Odisha legislative *embly. He is now serving as the chairman of the parliamentary committee on defence.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Political career
• 3 Personal life
• 4 Controversies
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Early life

Oram was born on 22 March 1961 into a poor tribal family at the village of Kendudihi, Sundergarh district, Orissa (present-day Odisha) to Dilga and Bhutuki Oram. He received a diploma in Electrical Engineering from Utkalmani Gopabandhu Ins*ute of Engineering. Before entering politics, he was employed as an *istant foreman in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited. In an interview to The Telegraph (Calcutta), Oram said that he would have continued his job in the organization if he had not entered politics.

Political career

In 1989, Oram joined Bharatiya Janata Party. He was elected to the Odisha Legislative *embly from Bonai cons*uency in the following year and served for two terms until 1998. He served as the party's national vice-president for the BJP ST Morcha (Scheduled Tribes wing) between 1993 and 1995. After serving two years as national secretary of the party, he was appointed party president for the state unit in 1997 and remained in that position until 1999.

In 1998, Oram was elected to the Lok Sabha from Sundargarh cons*uency. He was re-elected to the parliament in the following year. After Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee created the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, he was sworn as its first ever minister on 13 October.

In 2004, Oram was re-elected as party president for the state unit and served for two years. On 17 May of the same year, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha for the third time from his cons*uency. From 2006 to 2009, he served as the party's national vice-president.

Oram lost from his Sundargarh cons*uency in 2009. On 22 December 2009, he was made the party president of the state unit for the third time. In July 2012, he alleged that former Chief Minister of Odisha Hemananda Biswal had forged his caste certificate. On 1 April 2013, he was appointed vice president of the party.

On 18 May 2014, Oram was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sundargarh cons*uency after defeating Dilip Tirkey of the Biju Janata Dal. He was also the only candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party to win from Odisha. On 26 May, he took oath as the Tribal Affairs minister in the Narendra Modi ministry. In the following month, he announced that the central government would create a tribal map of India which would help in introducing new projects and schemes for the tribals.

Personal life

On 8 March 1987, he married Jhingia Oram and they have two daughters.

Controversies

In 2015, Oram stoked a controversy by equating Sarnaism with Hinduism. Carrying black flags and banners, nearly 300 tribals gathered around the state guesthouse in Ranchi on 31 October and demanded an apology from him for allegedly hurting their sentiments.

See also

• Indian general election, 2014 (Odisha)
• Indian general election, 2009 (Odisha)

References

External links

• www.jualoram.com
• Members of Fourteenth Lok Sabha – Parliament of India website